STEAK COOKING  CHART

Steak cooking chart

Sure, an amazing steak dinner with a perfect garlic-herb butter steak seasoning and roasted garlic cloves sounds great but there is more than one way to enjoy a good steak. Different consumers may prefer a thoroughly cooked piece of meat with charred flavor, whereas others enjoy the distinct eating experience brought by consuming rare steak. Different cooking temperatures result in an assortment of flavors, textures, and juiciness when it comes to cooking steak. It takes precision and accuracy when trying to achieve a certain degree of doneness. To make sure that you get the temperature right, always use a properly calibrated meat thermometer or a digital food thermometer and a steak cooking chart.

The correct internal cooking temperature is one of the key elements when you want to ace certain doneness of cooking steaks and achieve maximum flavor and perfect doneness. We are not saying that cooking a perfect medium-rare steak is easy every single time because it's not. Even a long-time executive chef and restaurant owner can make a mistake in perfecting the different degrees of doneness of steaks. Offering steaks in your menu gives consumers the choice to have their order cooked from rare to well done. To achieve this with utmost precision and serve a perfect steak, food workers must be well guided with the correct information and an instant-read thermometer. Additionally, this offer must come with a consumer advisory regarding the effects of consuming undercooked meats.

In this article, we will show you how to get the best cooking guides for cooking steak to different levels of doneness and how to manage your team most efficiently.

What is a steak cooking chart?

A steak doneness chart or steak cooking chart is a tool that can serve as a visual guide for the cooking process for steaks at different temperatures. This chart contains illustrations and information regarding the correct specifications for cooking steak. The information can include the proper and indicative steak texture, color, and firmness of each level of doneness as well as the temperature range needed. It can serve as a guide for all food workers assigned with cooking steak in your restaurant kitchen for more precise processing.

A steak cooking chart consists of the following level of doneness:

• Extra rare/ Blue steaks - Completely red interior, soft and cool center, seared surface
• Rare steak- Red interior, slightly cool center, seared surface
• Medium rare stake - 50% red interior, slightly firm, seared surface
• Medium steak - Pink center with slight red, must be springy yet firm texture, seared surface
• Medium-well steak - Hint of pink in center, mostly cooked, seared surface from edge to edge
• Well done steak- Center has fully brown color, firm, and cooked to the center, seared surface

Regardless of which method of steak preparation and cooking styles you use such as a gas grill or charcoal grill, cast iron skillet, or oven to cook steaks, the required thermal center to achieve a certain degree of doneness will be the same. The steak doneness chart usually contains a set of ideal temperature ranges for cooking different types of meat. You can also add timing suggestions for each level of doneness. Although some experts suggest using basic touch tests to determine the doneness of your steak, we highly recommend using a guide. The temperature ranges in a beef steak meat doneness chart can be applied to pork, venison, and lamb. If you want a more precise cooking food safety temperature for a well-done level of cooking, we suggest that you use a Cooking temperature chart.

Serving meat that is cooked less than well done must always come with precaution. Undercooking meat means removing the piece of steak from the heat source before it is thoroughly cooked. This method increases the risk of foodborne illness caused by harmful bacteria when compared with fully cooked meat. Consumers who are considered more vulnerable to foodborne diseases must be aware of their choices and the consequences of eating undercooked steak. Use a consumer advisory in your service area and menus along with your product details to inform them.

Who needs a steak cooking chart?

The steak temperature chart is ideal for all food establishments that offer different types of steaks and allows consumers to choose the level of doneness that it can be cooked in. Restaurants, food trucks, hotels, and other food establishments putting great steaks to dinner plates and offering them in their menu with product information on doneness can use this chart. This steak doneness temp chart can be placed in the kitchen or preparation area where it can be easily seen. Additionally, deli meat stands can also put this chart along their meat section where buyers can see it and serve as guidance and product promotions for them.

What are the benefits of a steak cooking chart?

In cooking steak, accuracy in terms of temperature and cooking time is an important element. Consumers are usually particular about how they want their steak cooked. Who could blame them? Each level of doneness brought about by the different levels of heat transfer and cooking time offers a different steak experience. The flavors and juice from the well-seared steak are different from those in a medium-rare steak. The extra juice loss in cooking steak for a couple of minutes more to be well-done can affect its flavor. Similarly, a medium-well steak must have a slight pink color in the center, whereas a well-done steak must have a crust with brown color on its entire surface and edges and a completely cooked color on the inside. A minimum and maximum temperature are assigned to properly achieve a certain level of doneness in steaks. As such, cooking steak must be accurate. A steak doneness chart can help you do that!

Here are some benefits to using a steak temperature chart:

• Reminder and reference. We know how everyone can be busy in a restaurant kitchen and that professional chefs cook multiple dishes at the same time. It's easy to forget which level of cooking doneness are you targeting and what is the proper steak internal temperature you are aiming for. Use a steak doneness chart as a reminder of the proper cooking standards. Additionally, the chart shows you the correct visual characteristics of steak for each level of doneness.
• Training guide. A steak cooking chart can serve as a training guide for new food workers as well as for home cooks that serve the perfect steak. Employees assigned in the kitchen can be oriented on how to cook juicy steaks using the steak doneness chart and on how to properly use a cooking thermometer. At this point, you can also introduce the importance of consistent cooking aside from meeting quality standards. Food safety is a concern for your whole team. 
• Keep everyone safe. Especially for the more vulnerable group of consumers which include pregnant women, children below five, the elderly, and those who are immunocompromised, cooking steak correctly is important. For these consumers, serving undercooked steak may expose them to a greater risk of getting foodborne illnesses from dangerous bacteria. There is always a risk that the served meat has a small number of microorganisms in the center which can cause significant adverse effects to the vulnerable group. As such, a steak doneness chart will help your employees ensure that consumers will get what they need or ask for. In case a typical person who is immunocompromised raises customer questions and asks for a lesser cooked steak, a consumer advisory must be presented. 
• More accurate cooking. In addition to the safety aspect of properly cooking steaks, serving delicious food and accurately cooking every ordered steak in your restaurant boosts your likeability as a whole. Customers would always remember a restaurant that served them the quality of a delicious steak that they are looking for.

Serving the correct doneness of steak cooked at the recommended temperature levels not only ensures satisfaction to customers but could also mean serving safely cooked foods to them. Using a steak cooking chart helps your team stay compliant with recommended food safety laws while adhering to the correct quality in demand and gaining a positive customer review with a potential five-star rating. 

How to create a steak doneness chart?

You cannot just make up your steak doneness chart. Although relatively easy to make, an effective steak temperature chart must be factual and clear. There is a lot at "steak" (pun intended) in properly cooking your dishes. As such, your steak doneness temp chart must have all the necessary elements to become effective and serve its purpose.

Use this guide to make sure that your steak cooking chart is effective:

• Use only correct information. Cooking steak is dependent on the amount of heat you apply and the average cooking times. A slight change in these parameters will create a different outcome that can make the steak bad. As such, when making a steak cooking temp chart, make sure that the steak internal temperature ranges and timing range you put are based on approved information from scientific studies or regulations from food agencies. 
• It must be clear. Using a steak doneness chart with blurred information or words that are too small to see defeats its purpose. A visual aid such as a steak cooking temp chart must be clear to the point that a quick glance will give you the necessary information that you need. The words and temperature ranges must be clear and large enough to read. They must also be well distinguished. A steak doneness guide without separating lines can create confusion. The colors of the chart, including the images you use, must be vivid enough to become a reference for the actual steak being cooked. 
• It must be updated. Every now and then, food agencies release new directives regarding the prescribed cooking temperature for different types of meat. As an example, just recently, the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service released a new standard lowering the required internal temperature for cooking whole cuts of pork from 160°F to 145°F. The agency also added a three-minute resting time on a wire rack for medium doneness level cooking for the residual heat transfer to reach the cooler center during carryover cooking. When making your steak doneness guide, make sure to check for updates in reputable food agency websites and databases. 

Although a steak cooking chart looks very simple, a lot of thought processes and research must go into making one. Your chart must be able to have all of the necessary key elements to becoming effective. To make life easier for your food business and food workers, you can use our steak doneness at FoodDocs. In making this chart, we have considered all important elements and fact-checked all information we used. You can download, save, and print this for your whole team to use. You can also file this visual aid under your food safety management system documents. Our steak cooking chart can be used as a guide for cooking steaks at different doneness levels. Pair this steak cooking chart with a consumer advisory also available at FoodDocs. In addition, this steak cooking chart is just a part of our many free checklists, templates, charts, and posters. Visit our HACCP plan template hub at FoodDocs for more free tools for your food business. 

Digital FSMS for your temperature monitoring activities

To keep your food business compliant with food safety regulations and your customers safe, your operations must always be in check. Safe food handling is an important part of the food industry and contributes to food security. When the community stays satisfied with the quality of your products and the level of safety that they are getting, your food business can continuously flourish. As such, it is part of your obligation to protect public health by ensuring that the food you serve is safe. In addition, your team must always be well-trained and updated with the latest food safety laws. Make sure that your operations are up to standard by implementing a comprehensive food safety management system. You have to do all of these on top of managing a food business and making sure that it stays in the market.

Lucky for you, we have created a digital Food Safety Management System (FSMS) that can help you monitor your operations and stay compliant with very minimum efforts. Our team of food safety experts at FoodDocs has developed a digital FSMS that is automatically generated from the information that you supply us with. After spending just 15 minutes answering our basic questions about your food business, your FSMS will be ready in just a few seconds. Yes, you read that right. Shifting to our digital platform would only take you an average of 15 minutes. 

Not enough to convince you? Here are some more benefits that you can get when you sign up with us:

• The digital FSMS that we automatically generate for you is specific for the type of food business you are in and your operations. You can fully customize any information that we provide to make your FSMS fit your operations even better.
• Our system generates digital monitoring forms, checklists, and monitoring procedures based on the operations of your food business that you have described. Additionally, these monitoring forms are automatically filled in based on your previous data entries. All that is left to do is to verify the logged information.
• Save more time from managing your FSMS and allow our system to do most of the work for you. Our digital FSMS allows you to save 20% more time from supervising your employees. 
• Review your food safety progress and identify your most efficient points and which operations need more attention with our real-time dashboard. This feature automatically generates a real-time report for you that includes finished operations and those that encountered problems.
• This system works as a great training medium for your food workers. You can provide specific food safety tasks to them and allow them to monitor these tasks through our mobile application. This application is compatible with all major devices that you can use in your food business. With specific and well-defined tasks, your food workers get to familiarize themselves with very minimal supervision from you.
• Our mobile application also features automatic notifications that alert you of any deadlines or food safety tasks that are due for renewal. Use this feature to schedule training and certification renewals. Additionally, this notification system alerts food safety workers if there is a breach of standards concerning their tasks. This will allow everyone to address the concern as quickly as possible.
• Store and organize all of your food safety documents in one place. Never scramble and panic again when searching for a document as we provide cloud storage for our customers where you can easily store and access your files anytime.

Switch to a more sustainable FSMS by choosing to go digital. This way, you can minimize your use of paper-based monitoring forms and contribute toward the conservation of nature. In addition, we understand that not everyone is adept at using the digital platform. Our task is to make everything easier for you. As such, our team can provide you with efficient customer support at your most convenient time.

Finish the job of making your FSMS in just 15 minutes and use our free 14-day trial to set it up. Maintain compliance with international and your local food safety laws by signing up with us. Get more benefits such as new checklists and features that can help you improve your operations by joining us at FoodDocs.

Who needs a steak cooking chart?

The steak temperature chart is ideal for all food establishments that offer different types of steaks and allows consumers to choose the level of doneness that it can be cooked in. Restaurants, food trucks, hotels, and other food establishments putting great steaks to dinner plates and offering them in their menu with product information on doneness can use this chart. This steak doneness temp chart can be placed in the kitchen or preparation area where it can be easily seen. Additionally, deli meat stands can also put this chart along their meat section where buyers can see it and serve as guidance and product promotions for them.

What are the benefits of a steak cooking chart?

In cooking steak, accuracy in terms of temperature and cooking time is an important element. Consumers are usually particular about how they want their steak cooked. Who could blame them? Each level of doneness brought about by the different levels of heat transfer and cooking time offers a different steak experience. The flavors and juice from the well-seared steak are different from those in a medium-rare steak. The extra juice loss in cooking steak for a couple of minutes more to be well-done can affect its flavor. Similarly, a medium-well steak must have a slight pink color in the center, whereas a well-done steak must have a crust with brown color on its entire surface and edges and a completely cooked color on the inside. A minimum and maximum temperature are assigned to properly achieve a certain level of doneness in steaks. As such, cooking steak must be accurate. A steak doneness chart can help you do that!

Here are some benefits to using a steak temperature chart:

• Reminder and reference. We know how everyone can be busy in a restaurant kitchen and that professional chefs cook multiple dishes at the same time. It's easy to forget which level of cooking doneness are you targeting and what is the proper steak internal temperature you are aiming for. Use a steak doneness chart as a reminder of the proper cooking standards. Additionally, the chart shows you the correct visual characteristics of steak for each level of doneness.
• Training guide. A steak cooking chart can serve as a training guide for new food workers as well as for home cooks that serve the perfect steak. Employees assigned in the kitchen can be oriented on how to cook juicy steaks using the steak doneness chart and on how to properly use a cooking thermometer. At this point, you can also introduce the importance of consistent cooking aside from meeting quality standards. Food safety is a concern for your whole team. 
• Keep everyone safe. Especially for the more vulnerable group of consumers which include pregnant women, children below five, the elderly, and those who are immunocompromised, cooking steak correctly is important. For these consumers, serving undercooked steak may expose them to a greater risk of getting foodborne illnesses from dangerous bacteria. There is always a risk that the served meat has a small number of microorganisms in the center which can cause significant adverse effects to the vulnerable group. As such, a steak doneness chart will help your employees ensure that consumers will get what they need or ask for. In case a typical person who is immunocompromised raises customer questions and asks for a lesser cooked steak, a consumer advisory must be presented. 
• More accurate cooking. In addition to the safety aspect of properly cooking steaks, serving delicious food and accurately cooking every ordered steak in your restaurant boosts your likeability as a whole. Customers would always remember a restaurant that served them the quality of a delicious steak that they are looking for.

Serving the correct doneness of steak cooked at the recommended temperature levels not only ensures satisfaction to customers but could also mean serving safely cooked foods to them. Using a steak cooking chart helps your team stay compliant with recommended food safety laws while adhering to the correct quality in demand and gaining a positive customer review with a potential five-star rating. 

How to create a steak doneness chart?

You cannot just make up your steak doneness chart. Although relatively easy to make, an effective steak temperature chart must be factual and clear. There is a lot at "steak" (pun intended) in properly cooking your dishes. As such, your steak doneness temp chart must have all the necessary elements to become effective and serve its purpose.

Use this guide to make sure that your steak cooking chart is effective:

• Use only correct information. Cooking steak is dependent on the amount of heat you apply and the average cooking times. A slight change in these parameters will create a different outcome that can make the steak bad. As such, when making a steak cooking temp chart, make sure that the steak internal temperature ranges and timing range you put are based on approved information from scientific studies or regulations from food agencies. 
• It must be clear. Using a steak doneness chart with blurred information or words that are too small to see defeats its purpose. A visual aid such as a steak cooking temp chart must be clear to the point that a quick glance will give you the necessary information that you need. The words and temperature ranges must be clear and large enough to read. They must also be well distinguished. A steak doneness guide without separating lines can create confusion. The colors of the chart, including the images you use, must be vivid enough to become a reference for the actual steak being cooked. 
• It must be updated. Every now and then, food agencies release new directives regarding the prescribed cooking temperature for different types of meat. As an example, just recently, the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service released a new standard lowering the required internal temperature for cooking whole cuts of pork from 71°C to 63°C. The agency also added a three-minute resting time on a wire rack for medium doneness level cooking for the residual heat transfer to reach the cooler center during carryover cooking. When making your steak doneness guide, make sure to check for updates in reputable food agency websites and databases.

Although a steak cooking chart looks very simple, a lot of thought processes and research must go into making one. Your chart must be able to have all of the necessary key elements to becoming effective. To make life easier for your food business and food workers, you can use our steak doneness at FoodDocs. In making this chart, we have considered all important elements and fact-checked all information we used. You can download, save, and print this for your whole team to use. You can also file this visual aid under your food safety management system documents. Our steak cooking chart can be used as a guide for cooking steaks at different doneness levels. Pair this steak cooking chart with a consumer advisory also available at FoodDocs. In addition, this steak cooking chart is just a part of our many free checklists, templates, charts, and posters. Visit our HACCP plan template hub at FoodDocs for more free tools for your food business. 

Digital FSMS for your temperature monitoring activities

To keep your food business compliant with food safety regulations and your customers safe, your operations must always be in check. Safe food handling is an important part of the food industry and contributes to food security. When the community stays satisfied with the quality of your products and the level of safety that they are getting, your food business can continuously flourish. As such, it is part of your obligation to protect public health by ensuring that the food you serve is safe. In addition, your team must always be well-trained and updated with the latest food safety laws. Make sure that your operations are up to standard by implementing a comprehensive food safety management system. You have to do all of these on top of managing a food business and making sure that it stays in the market.

Lucky for you, we have created a digital Food Safety Management System (FSMS) that can help you monitor your operations and stay compliant with very minimum efforts. Our team of food safety experts at FoodDocs has developed a digital FSMS that is automatically generated from the information that you supply us with. After spending just 15 minutes answering our basic questions about your food business, your FSMS will be ready in just a few seconds. Yes, you read that right. Shifting to our digital platform would only take you an average of 15 minutes. 

Not enough to convince you? Here are some more benefits that you can get when you sign up with us:

• The digital FSMS that we automatically generate for you is specific for the type of food business you are in and your operations. You can fully customize any information that we provide to make your FSMS fit your operations even better.
• Our system generates digital monitoring forms, checklists, and monitoring procedures based on the operations of your food business that you have described. Additionally, these monitoring forms are automatically filled in based on your previous data entries. All that is left to do is to verify the logged information.
• Save more time from managing your FSMS and allow our system to do most of the work for you. Our digital FSMS allows you to save 20% more time from supervising your employees. 
• Review your food safety progress and identify your most efficient points and which operations need more attention with our real-time dashboard. This feature automatically generates a real-time report for you that includes finished operations and those that encountered problems.
• This system works as a great training medium for your food workers. You can provide specific food safety tasks to them and allow them to monitor these tasks through our mobile application. This application is compatible with all major devices that you can use in your food business. With specific and well-defined tasks, your food workers get to familiarize themselves with very minimal supervision from you.
• Our mobile application also features automatic notifications that alert you of any deadlines or food safety tasks that are due for renewal. Use this feature to schedule training and certification renewals. Additionally, this notification system alerts food safety workers if there is a breach of standards concerning their tasks. This will allow everyone to address the concern as quickly as possible.
• Store and organize all of your food safety documents in one place. Never scramble and panic again when searching for a document as we provide cloud storage for our customers where you can easily store and access your files anytime.

Switch to a more sustainable FSMS by choosing to go digital. This way, you can minimize your use of paper-based monitoring forms and contribute toward the conservation of nature. In addition, we understand that not everyone is adept at using the digital platform. Our task is to make everything easier for you. As such, our team can provide you with efficient customer support at your most convenient time.

Finish the job of making your FSMS in just 15 minutes and use our free 14-day trial to set it up. Maintain compliance with international and your local food safety laws by signing up with us. Get more benefits such as new checklists and features that can help you improve your operations by joining us at FoodDocs.